Travels with George and Marta – Page 37 – Journeys in the Botanical World

March Weather

Posted on March 29, 2010 by MartaNovember 4, 2014

It has been a wild weather day. I woke several times last night with the wind and rain lashing against my window. There is something comforting being inside during a storm but yet alarming at the same time. It continued to be dark and wet this morning when we awoke so we decided to go to an early showing of the movie “Alice in Wonderland”. It was quite good. We both love Tim Burton so it was perfect for a dark and stormy day.

We left the theater and the rain had stopped. The streets glistened and were strewn with cherry blossoms and pink petals of magnolias. We arrived home thinking we would have the afternoon to garden. No not a chance. The wind started to blow and soon the ground turn white with hail. What the cuss?

And now the sun it out but you can see the clouds in the distance. It won’t be long. The rain will return. March may have come in like a lamb but it is going out like one of the old cranky sheep pictured above.

Cauliflower and Caramelized Onion Tart

Posted on March 28, 2010 by MartaOctober 14, 2014

Cauliflower has been on sale recently. I usually always pick up a head when the price goes below $1.00. I’m always frustrated at the waste. I usually have to cut off at least a good extra half pound or more of stem that I don’t use. But I love cauliflower

I came across this recipe for a tart using roasted cauliflower and caramelized onions. I love both with their sweet roasted flavor. It sounded perfect for a spring dinner.

But then I looked at the recipe. Wow! It called for so many heavy fat items. I expected to have eggs and creme but it also calls for 8 oz of mascarpone cheese, 1 cup of Gruyère and almost another cup of Parmesan cheese. I looked over the reviews on Epicurious and some people reduced the Parmesan but in general most people made it as it was written. There was no way I could use 8 oz of mascarpone in a 9 inch tart. I wasn’t making a cheesecake!

I ended up cutting all of the cheese in half or more. It was perfectly fine – in fact very tasty. It makes a great vegetarian meal. I used a recipe for a quiche crust and I’ll include that here. It is also very rich. It does involve a lot of steps but you can combine several such as roasting the cauliflower and baking the dough at the same time. It does make a very relaxing and satisfying project.

Tart Dough

1 cup all-purpose flour
4 Tbs cold butter
1 egg yolk
3 Tbs cold water

Cut the butter up into the flour until well blended – the butter will be small pea sized after cut up. Stir in the egg yolk and then add water tablespoon at at time until the dough can form a ball. You may need extra tbs. Roll out to fit a 9 inch tart pan with removable bottom. Prick with a fork.

To prevent shrinking, line with parchment paper and fill with bean to weight down. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove paper and beans and return to oven and bake an additional 5 minutes or more until golden brown.

Cauliflower and Caramelized Onion Tart
Bon Appétit | March 2007

1 small head of cauliflower (about 1 pound), cored, cut into 1-inch florets
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon truffle oil*

1 large onion, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 large eggs
1 (7- to 8-ounce) container mascarpone cheese (Italian cream cheese)*
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1 cup grated Gruyère cheese
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

One baked 9 inch tart crust (see above)

Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 425°F. Toss cauliflower with 1 tablespoon olive oil in large bowl. Spread on large rimmed baking sheet, spacing apart. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast 15 minutes; turn florets over. Continue roasting until tender, about 25 minutes longer. Cool cauliflower, then thinly slice. Drizzle with truffle oil; toss. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.

Heat remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add onion; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until onion is deep golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 40 minutes. Cool slightly. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Store crust at room temperature. Cover and chill cauliflower and onion separately.

Brush bottom and sides of crust with mustard. Spread onion in crust. Arrange cauliflower evenly over. Set tart on rimmed baking sheet. Whisk eggs and next 4 ingredients in medium bowl. Stir in Gruyère. Pour mixture over filling in tart pan; sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake until tart is golden and center is set, about 40 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool 15 minutes before serving.

Note: I reduced the cheeses in half. 1/2 container of mascarpone cheese, 1/2 cup grated Gruyere and 1/2 cup or less of Parmesan cheese. I also omitted the truffle oil since I didn’t have any.

Roasted Cauliflower

Caramelized Onions

Empty Tart Shell

Filled with Cauliflower and Onions

Ready to bake

Finished tart

Another good tart or quiche for spring is this asparagus quiche which uses the same dough and a filling without the mascarpone. I bet this recipe would be great using asparagus instead. This is another great spring asparagus dish – Baked Fettuccine with Asparagus, Lemon and Mascarpone.

Photohunt: Fresh

Posted on March 27, 2010 by MartaOctober 14, 2014

This week’s Photohunt theme is Fresh. There are so many options for this theme but strawberries came to mind right away. I love this time of year when we get the large fresh strawberries from California.

I took this photo when I made Strawberries in Chianti with Black Pepper Ricotta Cream for the Sunday Slow Bakers. I think it is time to make the recipe again.

Have a great weekend.

Spring Backyard Bird

Posted on March 26, 2010 by MartaMarch 26, 2010

Pileated Woodpeckers

We encourage the birds to visit our backyard. It helps that our backyard borders onto a wetland area. We have lots of large trees including several old snags (dead trees). These snags attract lots of different birds; flocks of crows, stately hawks but best of all a wide variety of woodpeckers.

Right now the flickers are courting. Occasionally we will hear them ratt-tat-tat on the roof as the male is trying to attract a mate. But best of all are the large pileated woodpeckers. They have a brilliant red top and love to come to the snags and inch up the trunk looking for grubs in the bark. They have a wonderful tropical call. Whenever we hear it, we run to get the binoculars to watch them.

The robins have also returned. I can hear them every morning at daybreak. Such a peaceful lovely sound.

Trio of robins searching for worms

Flicker

Cracked the secret of poached eggs

Posted on March 25, 2010 by MartaMarch 25, 2010

I love eggs and asparagus. They are food that reminds me of Spring. One of my favorite ways to serve these together is in a salad. I first made this salad last year. Asparagus is on sale and I picked up some fresh pastured eggs.

I tried it last Friday. What a disaster! The egg white went all over and it looked more like Chinese egg drop soup than a poached egg. So I studied the websites again. Some recommended adding vinegar. Some recommend stirring the pot. I don’t care for the vinegar taste and stirring the pot added to Friday’s disaster.

I gave it a try again. Success! Here are some tips that helped me.

Make certain your water is hot enough. Don’t be shy. Get that pot almost boiling. I used the tip from this page from What’s Cooking in America which suggests checking the temperature of the water and making certain it is between 160-180 degrees. I used my instant read thermometer that I used for baking bread. I realize now that I was misjudging how hot the pan was on Friday and it was too cool. That is why it didn’t hold its shape.
Use enough water to cover the egg. I used a small saucepan with 2-3 inches of water. I used a larger flat saucepan previously. The bigger pan will work as long as I get the water the right temperature.
Put the egg in a Pyrex cup and slip into the water. I slipped it up against the side of the pan to help keep it in place. Use a spatula if it looks like it is starting to stick to the side or bottom of the pan,
Adjust heat to make certain it does not start to boil and bubble. Some sites recommend turning off the heat and covering. I just adjusted the heat. Cook until the whites are solid but the yolk is still fluid. This should be about 3 minutes.

For the salad, I toss the greens in a lemony vinaigrette, top with steamed asperagus, two poached eggs and fresh croutons. It is sooo good. Here is a great spring time vinaigrette that really complements the salad.

Lemon Chive Vinaigrette
Inspired by Chive Vinaigrette from Bon Appettit

3 Tbs White Wine Vinegar
1 tsp chopped shallot
1 tsp chopped chives
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp grated lemon rind (using micro-fine grater)
1/2 tsp sugar
pinch of salt

9 Tbs Olive Oil (1/2 cup + 1 TBS)

In a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients except the oil. While whisking, slowly add the olive oil to make a thickened dressing.

Cactus Garden in Balboa Park

Posted on March 24, 2010 by MartaNovember 2, 2014

There are over 20 different gardens located in Balboa Park San Diego. I knew I wanted to visit the Botanical building. I looked over the list of gardens and put the Desert Garden high on the list of must-see other gardens.

I could already tell that San Diego was an excellent location for growing cactus and succulents. I was seeing large specimens of succulents in gardens as I drove or walked around the town. The Desert Garden is located across from the footbridge over Park Boulevard near the Natural History Museum. The garden was planted in 1976 and has matured well. Many of the plants were in bloom.

The garden reminded me a lot of South Africa. Many of the plants were succulents and many were from South Africa – Aloes and Euphorbias. There were not as many cactus as I expected.

Here are a few of the wonderful plants that can be found in the Desert Garden.

Euphorbia candelabrum

Idria columnaris

Dracaena draco

Close up of Dracaena draco

Aloe Barberae – Tree Aloe

Euphorbia grandicornis

Pair of doves

Aloe ferox

Aloe dichotoma – Quiver tree that we saw in South Africa

Spring in the Skagit Valley

Posted on March 23, 2010 by MartaOctober 14, 2014

What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time there was few daffodils in bloom in the Skagit Valley. I have posted several times about birding or the tulips. Last year everything was two weeks behind and the best blooms were near the end of April. This year, everything is early.

We headed up today. The forecast was for cloudy with some sun breaks. We could see the brilliant yellow patches as we drove through the narrow backroads. We pulled off into a parking area setup for a large daffodil field. The paths were soggy and muddy. We were surprised as we got closer to see the flower edges tinged with brown. The daffodils were not at their prime and slightly past.

We passed several fields of tulips that were just tinted with color. They were still tightly budded but with a good warm day – they will be a riot of color but for now – they are still asleep. We stopped by Roozengaarde where the early tulips were in bloom. It gave us a wonderful taste of warmth to come on this early Spring day.

Fields along the narrow roads

Gardens at Roozengaarde

Just coloring and not yet open

Sour Cherry Crisp

Posted on March 22, 2010 by MartaNovember 2, 2014

It is G’s birthday this week. I asked him what he wanted me to bake him for his birthday. I totally expected him to ask for something chocolate but he asked for a fruit cobbler. I was somewhat surprised. He said that chocolate cake is often too heavy and too much to eat. A cake or pie can last for weeks in this house. I try to cut most recipes in half so it will serve the two of us for two days but it can be hard.

We have a great source for frozen local fruit – Remlinger Farms. I have purchased both their frozen berry pies which are excellent and the bagged fruit. They are a great source for sour pie cherries. I priced them at the farmer’s market last July and they were running $10 per pound. Yozza! I can get a three pound bag of pitted frozen cherries from Remlinger for between $13-$15. It will make two pies or a couple of small cobblers. I also love their frozen peaches.

I had some of their frozen cherries in the freezer so I made a Sour Cherry Crisp from Cupcake Muffin Blog. I have made it several times and I really love the addition of the almond meal in the topping. Almonds and cherries are perfect partners. It is also a nice dessert to make any time of the year if you have access to pie cherries. Click over to her blog and check it out.

Botanical Building – Balboa Park

Posted on March 21, 2010 by MartaMarch 21, 2010

The Botanical Building – Balboa Park

The building I had to visit for G was the Botanical Building. I had actually forgot that it was a lath house instead of a glass house so I was a little surprised when I first saw it. It is one of the largest lath houses in the world and given the warm temperatures of San Diego, it makes much more sense than a glass house which would be extremely hot.

The Botanical Building was built in 1915 as part of the Panama-California Exposition. It has a somewhat checkered history which can be found on the San Diego History Society pages. It does remind me somewhat of the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park which is a glass house.

The Laguna de las Flores, also known as the lily pond, is located in front of the building which is stocked with Koi and dotted with water lilies. In the past, the pond bottom has been cemented and it has been used for training naval personal or hospital therapy pool. A strange use to me. Today it is a beautiful reflecting pool although it is somewhat marred by the cement bottom and piping.

There are towering palms and tree ferns inside the greenhouse. There are displays of colorful orchids and other interesting tropical plants. A local elementary school was holding a drawing class and it was fun to see the kids scattered throughout the building painting the flowers.

G would have loved it.

Photohunt: Three

Posted on March 20, 2010 by MartaOctober 14, 2014

This week’s Photohunt theme is three. Three is one of those magical numbers when composing a photograph. Composition comes natural to my husband. He has artistic genes. But I struggle.

Besides the rule of thirds, he has taught me to try to look for three items when you compose a picture. It really does work but it doesn’t make it any easier for me to see it.

I visited the Ballard Locks for a previous Photohunt and decided to practice my composition using the idea of three. There is a wonderful sculpture on the Magnolia side of the locks called “Salmon Wave”. The artist is Paul Sorey. These metallic waves shapes are to represent various sea motifs – sea shells, octopus, whale fins or even sea monsters. They are also lit at night which sounds really cool but I’ve never seen it at night.

Here are a few more photos

Artwork statement